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Pioneer graduates from Church Mission Society

Janice Hamilton, a pioneer in Sedbury, has graduated this week from the Church Mission Society’s Pioneer Mission Leadership Training programme. CMS’s pioneer courses have again seen an increase in numbers graduating. This year’s ceremony on 11 July at CMS House in Oxford included a total of 26 students receiving Durham University awards.

Janice, was ordained into the Church of England as a Deacon on Sunday, will graduate with a Diploma in Theology, Ministry and Mission. She is currently involved in a community regeneration project in Sedbury, Gloucestershire, to re-model and refurbish a disused youth club. Organisers hope it will draw the local community together and provide access to local services and expertise. Overall, the project will cost £55,000 and the team have launched a crowdfunding initiative, as well as seeking funding from local sources.

The Pioneer Mission Leadership programme, which was first established in 2010, is a creative way of equipping and mobilising Christians for ground-breaking, transformational and sustainable mission. Jonny Baker, Director of Mission Education at CMS, explained how the programme has been designed to provide a diverse approach to training pioneers. “The course gives pioneers a supportive learning community – a place to belong, as well as equipping and empowering them to initiate and follow through with mission projects that have a wider impact on the Church and society.”

The Church of England has recognised that pioneers are vital for the future of the Church and the Church Mission Society’s Pioneer Mission Leadership training programme provides a designated pathway for ordination as an Ordained Pioneer Minister (OPM) – alongside the more traditional routes for ordination and lay ministry.

Jonny Baker concluded; “Mission Pioneers are giving the Church a glimpse of the future, where mission will not be delivered solely by large para-church organisations, but increasingly through agile, innovative and creative pioneers, witnessing ‘love in action’.